Otis Rush life and biography

Otis Rush is a blues musician, singer and guitarist. His distinctive guitar style features a slow burning sound and long bent notes. With similar qualities to Magic Sam and Buddy Guy, his sound became known as West Side Chicago blues and became an influence on many musicians including Michael Bloomfield and Eric Clapton.

Rush is left-handed and, unlike many other left-handed guitarists, plays a left-handed instrument strung upside-down with the low E string at the bottom. He played often with the little finger of his pick hand curled under the low E for positioning. It is widely believed that this contributes to his distinctive sound. Other guitarists who restrung upside down include Albert King, Doyle Bramhall II, and Dick Dale. He has a wide-ranging, powerful tenor voice.

Rush made a come back in 1985 making a U.S. tour and releasing the live album, Tops, recorded at the San Francisco Blues Festival.

In 1994, Rush released Ain't Enough Comin' In, the first studio album in 16 years.[5] Any Place I'm Goin' followed in 1998, and Rush earned his first Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1999.
Though he has not recorded a new studio album since 1998, he continued to tour and perform. In 2002, he was featured on the Bo Diddley tribute album Hey Bo Diddley - A Tribute!, performing the song "I'm A Man".

However, he suffered a stroke in 2004 which has kept him from performing since. In 2006, Rush released his latest CD, Live and From San Francisco on Blues Express Records, a live recording from 1999. Video footage of the same show was released on the DVD Live Part 1 in 2003.

Original albums:
1969 Mourning In The Morning (Cotillion)
1974 Screamin' And Cryin' (Black And Blue)
1975 Cold Day In Hell (Delmark)
1976 So Many Roads (Delmark)
1976 Right Place, Wrong Time (Bullfrog)
1978 Troubles Troubles (Sonet)
1989 Tops (Blind Pig)
1989 Blues Interaction -Live In Japan 1986- (P-Vine)
1991 Lost in Blues (Alligator Records ALCD4797)
1993 Live In Europe (Evidence Music ECD 26034-2)
1994 Ain't Enough Comin' In (This Way Up)
1998 Any Place I'm Going (House Of Blues)
2006 Live...and in Concert from San Francisco (Blues Express)
2009 Chicago Blues Festival 2001 (P-Vine)

Read more